1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear-view mirror incorporating a light-emitting display device, which prevents interference of light from occurring where a dark color mask member is arranged behind a mirror element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-153736 and 2000-255321 each discloses a rear-view mirror incorporating a light-emitting display device to display information.
The rear-view mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-153736 is formed by: forming a semi-transmissive reflective film formed of a dielectric multilayer film on the back surface of a mirror substrate; forming a colored paint film on the region excluding a part of the entire region of the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film; forming a transparent paint film or a semi-transparent paint film on the region of the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film where the colored paint film is not formed; and arranging a monitor device on the back side of the region of the mirror substrate where the transparent paint film or the semi-transparent paint film is formed. The colors of the colored paint film and the screen of the monitor device are set so that when the monitor device is off, the colored paint film and the screen of the monitor device have colors that are substantially the same (black). Consequently, when the monitor device is off, the boundary between the colored paint film and the screen of the monitor device is unclear, preventing the mirror visibility from being lowered by the boundary.
The rear-view mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-255321 is formed by: forming a semi-transmissive reflective film formed of a dielectric multilayer film on the back surface of a mirror substrate, arranging a colored plate in a region excluding a part of the entire region of the back side of the semi-transmissive reflective film, in contact with the semi-transmissive reflective film, and arranging a monitor device on the region of the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film where the colored plate is not arranged. The colors of the colored plate and the screen of the monitor device are set so that when the monitor device is off, the colored plate and the screen of the monitor device have colors that are substantially the same (black). Consequently, when the monitor device is off, the boundary between the colored plate and the screen of the monitor device is unclear, preventing the mirror visibility from being lowered by the boundary.
According to the rear-view mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-153736, when a paint film is formed on the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film, reflection on the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film is weakened (i.e., loss of light is large). Therefore, in order to provide a reflectance necessary for a rear-view mirror, it is necessary that the semi-transmissive reflective film itself have a high reflectance, which results in the transmittance lowering in turn, lowering the visibility of indications when the monitor device is on. According to the rear-view mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-255321, as opposed to the case where a paint film is formed on the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film, strong reflection on the back surface of the semi-transmissive reflective film can be obtained (i.e., loss of light is small), and accordingly, both a reflectance sufficient for functioning as a rear-view mirror and good visibility of indications when the monitor device is on can be provided. However, there is a problem in that interference of light easily occurs in the portion where the contact between the mirror substrate and the colored plate is uneven (for example, the contact between the mirror substrate and the colored plate becomes uneven when an external force is applied to the mirror substrate or when the mirror substrate or the colored plate is strained), resulting in a poor design and deteriorating the mirror visibility.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned points, and aims to provide a light-emitting display device-equipped rear-view mirror that prevents interference of light from occurring when a dark color mask member is arranged behind a mirror element.